Licence: In copyright
Credit: Royal Army Medical Corps training, 1911. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.
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![ten inches round the place where the incisions will be made, and then gentlj' but thoroughly scrubbed with soap and water, afterwards being rubbed over with ether to reinove all grease. A compress is then applied, soaked with some authorized antiseptic, according to the orders of the surgeon. This is firmly bandaged on and left till the time of the operation. On the thoroughness with which this preparation of the skin is done depends very lai'gely the healing of the operation wound. A purgative is usually given on each of the two nights preceding the operation, and on the morning of the operation enemata should be given till the rectum is empty. Two or three may be necessary. Eectal cases require two days of preparation by purgatives and enemata. On the morning of the operation a specimen of urine should be saved for examination. Food in a fluid form, e.g., a pint of beef-tea, should be given four hours previous to the operation, but nothing else unless by special orders. The patient should be clad in a loose, flannel gown, the legs being covered with long, woollen stockings, which should be steriHzed. False teeth should be removed. The ]>atient should pass water before going into the operation-theatre. 721. After-treatment of operation-oases.—The operation- bed should be made up with clean linen, a draw-sheet and mackintosh placed in position, and the bed-clothes folded over to one side so that the patient can be quickly put back to bed. Hot bottles should be placed in the bed, and a blanket made hot to cover the patient with on retui'n from the theatre. After any prolonged operation, a hot, saline solution should be prepared and ready at hand in case of need, also blocks to raise the end of the bed. The patient requu-es watching carefully until he regains conscious- ness, and if there is a tendency to vomit, as there frequently is on coming round from a general anaesthetic, the head should be tm-ned to one side. A towel and bowl should be at the bed-head for this reason. A bed-cradle to support the weight of the clothes is ad\asable in some cases, and should be at hand in case of need. After all operations, food is withheld until the ansesthetic-sickness has passed ofl^. Thrrst is relieved by drachms of hot water, given slowly. The tongue may be kept moist by allowing the patient to rinse themouthwitha little water or soda-water. Special instructions with regard to the after-feeding of the patientwill be given according to the natiii'e of the operation, but to no patient will an ordinarj' diet be given on the day of the operation. Milk or milk and soda- water would in all probability be the only food allowed. On the evening of the operation the gown should be changed, the patient's hands and face sponged, and the draw-sheet drawn through. On the morning after operation a specimen of urine is saved for ex.amication, /](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21973167_0436.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
